Huelskamp, Douglas County D.A. end feud over ticket raffle

Both sides say issue involving NCAA Tournament tickets is over

The campaign of Kansas 1st District Congressman Tim Huelskamp says its feud with the Douglas County District Attorney over a promotion involving NCAA Tournament tickets is over. Charles Branson's office has said there is no need for any further investigation.

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The Douglas County District Attorney says his office has done all it intends to do regarding what it deemed an illegal NCAA Tournament ticket lottery conducted by Kansas 1st District Congressman Tim Huelskamp, whose campaign says it has been “absolved” in the issue.

Both sides say the issue — which gained national attention after breaking last week before an NCAA Regional at St. Louis featuring teams from Kansas, Kansas State and Wichita State — is now closed.

Huelskamp’s campaign took exception to last week’s news release from Charles Branson, the Douglas County District Attorney, announcing that a Huelskamp raffle for two tickets to the St. Louis regional violated Kansas law.

Branson said that because a $10 campaign contribution was required to be eligible for the drawing, the promotion constituted an illegal lottery.

The Huelskamp campaign countered, saying it had dropped the contribution requirement in advance of Branson’s news release. The Hutchinson Republican accused Branson of engaging in “trial by press release,” using his office for political purposes and threatened to pursue “all legal avenues” regarding prosecutorial misconduct.

Huelskamp — whose Congressional district doesn’t include Lawrence — also suggested that Branson’s action was in response to the one-sided victory by Kansas State over Kansas in the previous fall’s football season.

In a news release Thursday, Branson said his office responded to an inquiry from a Douglas County resident who received the solicitation for a campaign contribution.

“It is not uncommon for this office to receive complaints or questions about these types of solicitations,” Branson said, adding that his office often issues news releases when a solicitation is deemed illegal.

“Often times, charitable organizations or other well-intentioned groups organize events which run afoul of the criminal prohibition of these types of drawings. Unless we have some reason to believe there was some actual intent to operate in violation of the law, we do not usually initiate a formal prosecution.”

Branson said the Huelskamp campaign responded to his inquiries, saying the “inexact nature of the terms” used to invite participation in the drawing resulted in a promotion forbidden by Kansas law. The campaign said it took steps to correct the situation immediately upon learning of the error, even offering refunds to people who believed they were required to contribute in order to be eligible for the drawing.

Branson said one Douglas County resident had participated in the drawing, and that the person had been offered a refund if desired.

The Huelskamp camp Thursday hailed what it called Branson’s decision to “abandon his investigation and allegations against the campaign.”

“I am glad that our campaign has been absolved of these charges,” Huelskamp said in a news release.

“With this acknowledgement by the District Attorney that the campaign’s well-intentioned efforts were of no criminal concern, and that any questions about our drawing were addressed before Mr. Branson’s press release, we are both happy to close this entire matter.

“I also hope we can agree that after the multiple disappointments in St. Louis last weekend, we are both only too happy to move beyond this NCAA basketball season.”

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stay away from raffles connected with campaign donations...the country's collapsing and there are far more important things to deal with than this fluff and nonsense over questionable means of soliciting donations...

actually, the Douglas County DA was responding to an issue that really should have been responded to by the Kansas Attorney General. You see, the Kansas Constitution (Article 15, Item 3C) permits only a state-owned and operated lottery. The last time this type of issue was addressed on a widely publicized basis was when then Attorney General Bob Stephan ruled that a local denominational high school couldn't "raffle" a Ford Mustang unless they offered free tickets. The ruling was the same then as what the Douglas County District Attorney stated ... if you want to have a raffle you must give tickets away to anyone that requests one. You of course have heard the phrase "No purchase necessary" on major businesses that are domiciled in Kansas and participate in national drawings.

Also, if this DA also "needs crayons" as you say, then the Constitution is not as important as you often say it is.